Door closer



Dec. 29, 1959 c. VAN'DER LELY ETAL United States Patent DOOR CLOSER Cornelis van der Lely and Ary van der Lely, Maasland,

Netherlands, assignors to C. van der Lely N.V., Maasland, Netherlands, a Dutch company Application December 6, 1954, Serial No. 473,334

Claims priority, application Netherlands December 8, 1953 1 Claim. (Cl. 16-80) This invention relates to door closers.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved door closer.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved mechanism which maintains a door in open position when the door is opened and in closed position when the door is closed.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved device for operation with a door, which device is easily manufactured and easily combined with the door for operation therewith.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism of the type indicated above which is of economical structure and which requires little or no maintenance due to the simplicity of its operation.

To achieve the above and other of its objectives, the invention contemplates the mounting of a door pivotal about a hinge axis. For operation therewith, the invention provides a rotation means defining a pivotal axis functionally spaced from the hinge axis and including a crank pivotal on the pivot axis. A torsion spring or the like urges said crank unidirectionally around the pivot axis and preferably towards said door. An arm supported solely on thedoor rotates therewith about the hinge axis and a first pivot is provided on the arm and pivotally supports a lever which through the intermediary of a second pivot couples the lever to the above noted crank. The crank, on movement of the door, rotates first in one direction against the action of said spring and then in the opposite direction in a manner in which it is unopposed by said spring. The lever accommodates arcuate movements of the first pivot towards and away from the rotation means as the first pivot makes its arcuate movement.

In further accordance with the invention, the distance between the hinge and pin axes exceeds the distance between the hinge axis and first pivot; the distance between the first and second pivots added together with the distance between the hinge axis and first pivot exceeds the distance between the hinge and pivot axes.

Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description with reference to the drawing in which the sole figure shows, in plan view, a horizontal section of a door provided with a device according to the invention.

In the drawing, a door 1 is mounted on a jamb 3 of a doorcase with the aid of hinges 2 in such a way that it is rotatable about a vertical pintle or hinge axis. 4. In closed position, the door rests against a jamb 5 of the doorcase. When the door is opened, it is in the position 1B, and the hinges at position 2B, indicated in the 2,918,695. Patented Dec. 29, 1959 figure with broken lines. Against the door 1 is fixed a horizontal strip 6 which carries an arm 7. The end of this arm is hingedly connected to an extremity of a lever or horizontal bar 8 by a pivot 9. By means of a vertical pivot 10, the other extremity of the bar 8 is connected to a horizontal arm or crank 11 which is rigidly fixed to a vertical pivot 12. The pivot 12 is rotatably supported in the bottom of a cup 13 which is provided with flanges 14' mounted on the doorcase. The cup 13 has a construction which is conventional for door closing means and it comprises a torsion spring 20 one end of which is fastened at 21 to the cup, the other end being fastened to the axle 12. This spring tends to turn the crank 11 in the direction of the arrow 15.

When the door 1 is initially opened the arm 11 first moves in a direction opposite to the direction of the arrow 15 and the spring in cup 13 is stretched. During this movement, the pivot 10 moves along the are 16 and pivot 9 along the are 17. When the door is opened wider the pivot 9 moves to position 9A, the pivot 10 be ing at position 10A. In this position, the hinge axis 4 of the door and the center lines of the pivots 9 and 10 lie in one plane (indicated by the line 18), so that the pivot 10 then occupies its position of maximum displace ment and the spring in the cup 13 has thus its greatest tension. In this position, the door 1 itself is with respect to the pressure of the spring in an unstable balance. When the door is further opened, the pivot 9 will continue to move along the are 17, whereas the pivot 10 moves in reverse direction. The spring in the cup 13 will now tend to open the door more. When the door is open, the pivot 10 and the crank '11 return in their starting positions. Pivot 9 assumes position 9B and the door is in position 1B.

What we claim is:

A closer mechanism for a door pivotal about a hinge axis and for keeping the door open when in its open position and closed when in its closed position, comprising rotation means defining a pivot axis fixedly spaced from said hinge axis and including a crank pivotal on the pivot axis, a torsion spring coaxial with the pivot axis and coupled to sad crank for urging the same towards said door, an arm supported solely on the door and rotatable therewith about the hinge axis, a first pivot on the arm which on movement of the arm about: the hinge axis describes an are about the hinge axis, a lever on said pivot, and a second pivot coupling the lever to said crank so that said crank rotates away from and towards the door upon movement of the door and said arm, said lever accommodating arcuate movement of the first pivot toward and away from the rotation means, the distance between the hinge axis and pivot axis exceeding the distance between the hinge axis and first pivot, the distance between Said first and second pivots totalled with the distance between the hinge axis and first pivot exceeding the distance between the hinge axis and pivot axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 23,652 Kolbus July 26, 1949 1,224,753 Klasnich May 1, 1917 2,392,689 Peglow Jan. 8, 1946 2,515,875 Jones July 18, 1950 2,645,810 Galla July 21, 1953 

